John opened the door and peered out. He glanced down and saw the girl perched on the first step, her back to the door. He squinted his eyes slightly, she looked very familiar. "May I help you?" He asked quietly, with curiosity in his voice. girl stood up and spun around, she stared directly at John's eyes. "Oh… h-hello. Sorry, I… um…Mr. Watson, I am Susan Aryd, do you remember me?" "Oh, yes, of course. Actually, Sherlock was just talking about you." The girl seemed to perk up nervously, "H-he was? Do you know why?" John sighed and shook his head, sighing. "You really probably don't want to know." John glanced over his shoulder and then turned back to Susan. Gesturing with his hand he said, " Uh, Would you like to come inside, I could make some tea?" Susan nodded nervously. John turned and headed back inside, Susan followed closely behind. Sherlock didn't look up as John and Susan passed the doorway. He was becoming agitated, he was trying to distract himself by analyzing a few possible cases. "None of these are any good!" Sherlock's voice echoed through the hallway as the teakettle bubbled. Susan seemed to flinch nervously. John sneezed several times. "Bless you!" Susan said each time. It was clear from the sound of the sneeze that john was feeling very congested. John made a face and groaning noise of discomfort. "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice sounded genuinely concerned. John nodded, the teakettle whistled and he poured the water into the teapot, he set the lid on to let it steep. He began looking through the cupboards for a clean mug saying, "I think it's just allergies or something…it is that time of year." "Oh I'm sorry, you should make sure to rest up and take plenty of vitamin c, though, just incase. I also apologize, I don't know many remedies for helping with allergies." John stopped what he was doing for a second. He was not used to people expressing their concern for him. "Oh, I know, but… thank you." He found a mug and set it near the teapot. "Do you like anything in your tea… sugar…cream?" "Oh I like it plain, thank you," She said quietly, smiling nervously. John glanced at the doorway and then back at the teapot. He breathed out through his nose and said, "Perhaps I should ask Sherlock if he'd like a cup as well." He nodded silently to himself and then turned back to Susan, "I'll be …right back." Susan followed him with her eyes as he walked out of the doorway. She heard John stop and say, "I was just brewing a pot of tea, would you like any?" "Tea, I don't have time for tea," Sherlock hissed, Susan could hear the rustling of paper and an audible sigh from John. "Well is there anything I can do…?" "No, there is nothing you can do because what I need is a case or a cigarette, neither of which you will give me." John was muttering something as he came back in the kitchen. He poured out two mugs of tea and carried them over to the table. He set one in front of Susan and then sat down at the table himself. "Thank you," Susan said, smiling again slightly. John nodded, and stared at his mug. Susan followed suit and stared at her own mug. They each had taken several sips before at last John looked up and said, "So, what exactly are you doing here?" Susan set down her mug slowly, nodding slightly. She looked up at John and stared into his eyes. "My father is dead. I wasn't able to get the antibiotics in time… He died about a week ago." She closed her eyes for a second, sipped her tea, and took a deep breath. "My first thought was to contact my family, but I wasn't sure how to, so I headed into London. I was able to find the phone number of a possible aunt, but I realized something just as I was about to call her… I decided to check and see if the charges had been dropped on my father. I discovered, then, that I was charged with being his accomplice." She took another sip and shook her head. "I decided it wasn't fair to try and burden my family with that. Any connection I would have would be strained already. I don't have the money to hire a lawyer to clear my name." She took a deep breath, "And so I was wondering… until I find a job and save up enough to buy my own place, would it be alright I stayed with you and Sherlock? I know you both are friends with several fugitives and I get the feeling I'd be… safe here." "I um… well that's… that's… hmm… tricky…" John stood up, thinking. Every now and then he would glance back and Susan, his face showed how clearly mixed his emotions were. He shook his head and said, "I think we should ask Sherlock… because I…I honestly have no idea…" Susan tried to keep her expression even, "Alright Mr. Watson, I understand." John exhaled, "Sorry… look… we can ask him right now if you'd like…" he muttered out of his own guilt. He was unable to look her in the eyes. Susan raised her eyebrow, "Are you sure he's… in a good enough mood for this sort of request?" "Um…" John glanced at the doorway, where he could still hear the sound of sound of frantic rustling he sighed, "Yeah…probably not." He picked up the teapot and said, "This might take a while… we should probably have more tea in the mean time."